So its now October 23rd I think, and I´m writing this from an internet cafe in the desert coastal town of Arica in the Northern tip of Chile. Anyways, I"ll try to write what ive been doing on my trip so far. First I ll fill you in on what Pichilemu was like.
The rest of my time in Pichilemu was a blended blur of surfing, time at the beach, me working a surf contest, and fun nights with locals that I met.
First, the surfing. It was amazing the whole time I was in Pichilemu. I surfed a 7`6 gun for the first time in my life in 3-4 meter waves at punta de lobos. It was the most scared I had ever been surfing but i managed to swallow my fear and grab two pretty big waves a little shy of 4m. Probably about 3.5m, a little more than 10 feet. I had lots of other fun surf sessions at Punta de Lobos, none of which were on waves smaller than 7 feet. Then one day I snapped the rented board that I was surfing. Oh shit. Elvis is going to kill me, or hes going to want a lot of money. Once he got out of the water and I talked to him he said itd cost me about 80 bucks to repair the board. After we talked more he said I could work the next day and a half as a flag man for a local surf contest and get 40 bucks and he said Id only have to give him 20 more. Perfect.
So, the surf contest was easy work with free lunches and half way through the first day I wound up as a clothing model. This lady walked up to me blabbing in spanish and I didnt quite understand what she wanted other than she said something about clothes. Finally, I got the picture when she dragged me to a clothing trailer and gave me clothes to put on. I got to keep the clothes after she said and Id just have to pose with 2 professional models and this other guy. I ended up having to walk the runway, talk off my shirt and throw it to screaming highschool girls, and I even had to dance with one of the locals on stage. All in all, it was embarrassing but funny. There are pictures on Fuel Oil Jeans facebook page under the albums titled pichilemu.
After the contest, I hung out with some of the kids who also worked it and met their friends. We hung out at a house and drank some beers and then some of the girls wanted to go to the club, I wasnt in the mood so I declined. They left and I ended up chatting with a friend of a friend named Deborah. 22 years old, yoga instructor, brazilian surfer girl who spoke spanish with a portugese accent. She was traveling as well and over the next few days I surfed with here a few times and ended up deciding that I would tag along with her and travel up to Arica to surf. She has two boards, so I dont have to rent one and she has little money so we hitch hiked all the way here. about 2000km. took 4 days to cross the massive desert that is Norhtern Chile.
From Santiago we hitch hiked on the highway heading north. got a couple rides and ended up staying with the last family that picked us up. They owned a restaurant and didnt have much but they gave us their spare beds and fed us and made us feel at home. Christian and Naiomi and their little daughter Augustina. Great people with huge hearts and we stayed with them helping in the kitchen until 4pm the next day. Then we hitch hiked more and eventually got picked up by an 18 wheeler loaded with beer. The drivers name was Mauricio and we spent the next 2 full days with him. He was a joker, funny guy. full of stories. we ate together, chatted away the long miles across the dry desert, and we all got to know eachother quite well. Me and deborah slept with Mauricio in the truck for 2 nights. Me on the passenger seat, Deborah in the driver seat, and Mauricio in his bed. Then we said goodbye in the hot, dry industrial city of Antofagasta...still 700km from Arica. Then more hitchiking. 2 rides got us within less than 300km of Arica, and then we payed 10 bucks each to get the rest of the way there. We payed because our last driver, Jonas dropped us in a a town called Pozo Monte and it was almost dark. He told us this wasnt the safest place to be at night and we wanted to wake up in Arica. So we bused it. got there at 11pm and then walked down the beach looking for a place to camp. Asked two guys, they told us to camp in front of the police station down the beach, and then they ended up giving us a ride and feeding us pizza. Javier and Eduardo, they work in a pizza place and are both super nice and cool.
Over the last few days Javier has hung out with us some, brought us food and helped Deborah find work. Shes gotta work some to save money and get back to Brazil for a little while before she continues on with her traveling.
Im glad that I came up here and that I had the experiences of traveling with someone else, practicing my spanish more, learning some yoga, and learning a different kind of travel. But on the other hand, traveling with someone is a lot like living with someone. It has its pros and cons. And for now Im ok with hanging out here for a few more days with my surf buddy becasue the waves are supposed to get small enough to surf after the weekend but then Im ready to move on. Im ready to take what Ive learned and try to hitch hike back to Santiago on my own. And then fly to Patagonia to start backpacking. The desert is beautiful in its own way. But my heart is longing to be in the mountains, and I am ready to not have to make compromises with my days or time. Which is whats starting to happen so I know its time to continue my adventure, follow my heart to the south, and do only what I want to do with each and every day that I have.
Ciao
Wow Colin, this sounds so fun!
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